1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a vehicle steering apparatus.
2. Description of Related Art
There is an existing vehicle steering apparatus that is, for example, configured such that, when a vehicle collides at its front and then the driver collides with a steering wheel due to the action of inertia (secondary collision), a steering column that rotatably supports a steering shaft is removed from a vehicle body member in order to, for example, absorb the shock. Usually, in such a steering apparatus, a fixed bracket that supports a steering column is configured as a so-called breakaway bracket that is removed from a vehicle body member when a load that is larger than or equal to a predetermined load and that is directed toward the front of the vehicle is exerted on the fixed bracket (for example, see Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2006-62434 (JP-A-2006-62434)).
In addition, there is a vehicle steering apparatus that has a so-called telescopic adjustment function that allows the steering wheel position to be adjusted in the axial direction of a steering shaft (for example, see Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2009-51353 (JP-A-2009-51353)). More specifically, the steering shaft of such a steering apparatus is formed of an upper shaft to which a steering wheel is connected and a lower shaft that is slidable in the axial direction with respect to the upper shaft and is rotatable together with the upper shaft, and the steering column of the steering apparatus is formed of an outer tube and an inner tube that is slidable in the axial direction with respect to the outer tube. In addition, a fixed bracket includes a vehicle body-side bracket, a column-side bracket and a support shaft. The vehicle body-side bracket is fixed to a vehicle body member. The column-side bracket has an axially-long telescopic long hole. The outer tube is fixed to the column-side bracket. The support shaft couples the vehicle body-side bracket to the column-side bracket. The column-side bracket is displaceable with respect to the vehicle body-side bracket within the range of the telescopic long hole. Then, the steering wheel position is adjusted within the range of the telescopic long hole by displacing the outer tube and the upper shaft with respect to the inner tube and the lower shaft and displacing the column-side bracket in the axial direction with respect to the vehicle body-side bracket.
However, in the steering apparatus described in JP-A-2006-62434, after the fixed bracket is removed from the vehicle body member, the vehicle body member no longer supports the steering column via the fixed bracket. Therefore, the steering column (steering wheel) may be displaced excessively downward.